Wife unsure when Jesse Jackson Jr. will return

Published: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 5:30 a.m. CST

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(AP file photo)

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s GOP opponent is now criticizing him for it after pledging not to. Friendly editorial writers are now urging he come forward and finally explain himself. And Jackson's alderman wife, Sandi, is having to deny in public that she might step in to replace him.

CHICAGO – U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s wife said Wednesday her husband is seeing his doctor two to three times a week and she doesn’t know if he will return to work before the Nov. 6 election.

Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson told reporters the congressman is eager to “get back out and do what he can” but that his physicians have directed him to “stay very calm and very quiet.”

“Right now he knows he has to follow doctors’ orders,” she said.

She said his physicians will decide when the Chicago Democrat can return to work. The 47-year-old congressman took a medical leave about three months ago, though his staff did not initially disclose what illness he was suffering from or where he was.

It was later revealed he had been hospitalized suffering from bipolar disorder and gastrointestinal problems.

Jackson, who was first elected to Congress in 1995, left the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in August and returned to the family’s home in Washington.

He vowed to return to the campaign trail by Labor Day but hasn’t made a campaign appearance since the spring primary election. His name remains on next month’s ballot.

The family recently put its Washington home up for sale but took it off the market because people who were not serious about buying it were showing up at the house, Sandi Jackson said Wednesday.

She said the family was still trying to sell the home privately and hoped it will help cover some of Jackson’s medical bills not covered by insurance.